Megaregions: Literature Review of the Implications for U.S
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Megaregions: Literature Review of the Implications for U.S. Infrastructure Investment and Transportation Planning For U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Federal Highway Administration Dr. Catherine L. Ross, Principal Investigator CENTER FOR QUALITY GROWTH AND REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT at the GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY September 2008 Megaregions: Literature Review of the Implications for Infrastructure Investment and Transportation Planning Project Title: Megaregions and Transportation Planning (FHWA-BAA-HEPP-02-2007) Deliverable 1b: a report comprised of case studies that summarize the application of large-scale regionalism in the U.S. and abroad and the existing literature on megaregions Submitted to: U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration Office of Planning, HEPP-20 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE Washington, DC 20590 Point of Contact: Supin Yoder Submitted by: Georgia Tech Research Corporation (A Non-profit, State Controlled Institution of Higher Education) Principal Investigator: Dr. Catherine L. Ross ([email protected]) Co-PIs: Jason Barringer, Jiawen Yang Researchers: Myungje Woo, Jessica Doyle, Harry West, with Adjo Amekudzi and Michael Meyer Georgia Institute of Technology College of Architecture Center for Quality Growth and Regional Development (CQGRD) 760 Spring Street, Suite 213 Atlanta, GA 30332-0790 Phone: (404) 385-5133, FAX: (404) 385-5127 ii Megaregions: Literature Review of the Implications for U.S. Infrastructure Investment and Transportation Planning Table of Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1 SECTION I. OVERVIEW 9 A. Research Background 9 B. Report Organization 10 SECTION II. FOUNDATIONS AND DELINEATION APPROACHES 11 A. Examining the Literature 11 1. Regionalism 11 2. Globalization 12 3. Global Climate Change 13 4. Economic Geography 17 5. Spatial Planning 17 6. Governance 18 About the Center for Quality 7. Informing a Megaregional Framework 19 Growth and Regional Development B. Megaregions & Infrastructure 21 The Center for Quality Growth 1. Freight Movement and Megaregions 22 and Regional Development (CQGRD) is an applied a) Transportation modes of freight movements 23 research center of the Georgia Institute of b) Domestic commodity flows 25 Technology. The Center serves c) Commodity flows from and to overseas countries 26 communities by producing, disseminating, and helping to d) Conclusions and implications on megaregions 27 implement new ideas and 2. National Highway Systems (NHS) 28 technologies that improve the theory and practice of quality a) The structure of NHS 28 growth. b) NHS high-priority corridors 29 For more information visit c) Highway systems and megaregions 29 www.cqgrd.gatech.edu. 3. High-speed Railway (HSR) Systems 31 a) History of railway system in the United States 31 FHWA-BAA-HEPP-02-2007 y iii b) Advantages of HSR systems 31 c) Existing plans of HSR system 32 d) HSR systems and megaregions 33 4. Green Infrastructure 34 a) The concept of green infrastructure 34 b) Green highway 35 c) Green infrastructure and megaregions 35 C. Defining a Region 36 1. Historic Delineation Methods 36 2. Preliminary Delineations of Megaregions 37 a) National Delineation Approaches in the United States 38 b) Regional Delineation Approaches in the United States 40 c) Delineation Approaches from Abroad 44 SECTION III. A HISTORICAL AND CONTEMPORARY PERSPECTIVE 47 A. History of Regional Planning in the United States 48 1. The Regional Plan Association 48 2. The Tennessee Valley Authority 50 3. The Appalachian Regional Commission 51 4. National Highway Planning 52 5. Metropolitan Planning Organizations 53 6. Conclusions 54 B. From Regions to Megaregions 55 1. Impetus for Megaregions for Transportation Planning 55 a. Transportation 56 b. Environmental 57 c. Land Use 57 d. Global Economic Competitiveness 58 2. Profiles of Megaregions in the United States 59 a. Piedmont Atlantic Megaregion 60 b. Northeast Megaregion 61 c. Northern California Megaregion 63 d. Southern California Megaregion 64 e. Great Lakes Megaregion 65 f. Texas Triangle 67 FHWA-BAA-HEPP-02-2007 y iv g. Southern Florida Megaregion 68 h. Gulf Coast Megaregion 69 i. Cascadia 70 j. Arizona Sun Corridor 71 3. Profiles of Megaregional Activities Abroad 72 a. The Trans-European Transport Networks (TENs-T) 72 b. Metropolitan Shanghai/Yangtze River Delta, China 75 c. The Randstad, Netherlands 77 d. Nascent Megaregional Efforts 80 e. Interpreting Lessons from Abroad 82 SECTION IV. CONCLUSION 83 REFERENCES 86 FHWA-BAA-HEPP-02-2007 y v LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Changes in Selected Global Environmental Indicators, 1850-2000 (IPCC, 2007) 14 Figure 2. GHG Emissions, Worldwide, Since 1970 (IPCC, 2007) 15 Figure 3. Distribution of the volume of trades with Canada and Mexico (2035) 22 Figure 4. Distribution of the volume of trades with overseas countries (2035) 23 Figure 5. Transportation modes for the domestic trade goods 24 Figure 6. Transportation modes for the international trade goods with Canada and Mexico 24 Figure 7. Transportation modes for the international trade goods with overseas countries 25 Figure 8. The National Highway System 28 Figure 9. The Strategic Highway Network (STRAHNET) 28 Figure 10. NHS High Priority Corridors 29 Figure 11. Average daily traffic volumes 30 Figure 12. Interstate Bottlenecks 30 Figure 13. Future Interstates on the NHS 31 Figure 14. FRA HSR illustrative corridors 32 Figure 15. HSR corridor designations 32 Figure 16. 2050 intercity passenger rail network of PRWG 32 Figure 17. Intercity passenger rail corridor development plan 33 Figure 18. Virtual Green Highway 35 Figure 19. Gottmann’s Megalopolis 37 Figure 20. The RPA’s megaregions 38 Figure 21. Metropolitan Institute’s Megapolitan Areas 38 Figure 22. The Randstad Mega City Region 45 Figure 23. NUTS level of the European Union 45 Figure 24. The Yellow Sea Rim and the East Sea Rim in North-East Asia 46 Figure 25. The Piedmont Atlantic Megaregion 60 Figure 26. The Northeast Megaregion 61 Figure 27. The Northern California Megaregion 63 Figure 28. The Southern California Megaregion 64 Figure 29. The Great Lakes Megaregion 65 Figure 30. The Texas Triangle Megaregion 67 Figure 31. The Southern Florida Megaregion 68 Figure 32. The Gulf Coast Megaregion 69 Figure 33. The Cascadia Megaregion 70 Figure 34. The Arizona Sun Corridor Megaregion 71 Figure 35. Trans-European transport network (TEN-T) 73 Figure 36. Highways in the Yangtze River Delta 76 FHWA-BAA-HEPP-02-2007 y vi Figure 37. The Randstad 77 Figure 38. Proposed Rapidrandstad Rail System 79 Figure 39. Possible Spatial Development Initiatives (SDIs) in West Africa 81 LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Transportation modes for exporting goods to domestic destinations between megaregions and non-megaregion areas 25 Table 2. Comparison of growth rates of domestic commodity flows between megaregions and non-megaregion areas (%, 2002-2035) 26 Table 3. Transportation modes commodity flows from and to foreign countries 27 Table 4. Comparison of growth rates of commodity flows from and to overseas countries between megaregions and non-megaregion areas (%, 2002-2035) 27 Table 5. Miles of interstate highways and local roads of federal-aid urbanized areas 30 Table 6. Share of the proposed mileage of SHR within megaregions and non-megaregions 33 Table 7. Comparison of delineating criteria of megaregions in the United States 39 Table 8. Comparison of identified megaregions/megapolitans across the country 40 Table 9. Comparison of delineating methods of selected megaregions in the United States 42 Table 10. Essentialist and relational geography in spatial planning 44 Table 11. The criteria of delineating megaregions in foreign countries 45 Table 12. The thresholds for the average population size of the NUTS regions 46 FHWA-BAA-HEPP-02-2007 y vii FHWA-BAA-HEPP-02-2007 y viii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY n the twenty-first century, the United efforts and selected regional planning States faces increasing challenges in initiatives, related to transportation Iterms of economic competitiveness, infrastructure investment, both inside and quality of life, traffic congestion, aging outside the United States. transportation infrastructure, and scarcity of natural resources. These challenges are particularly difficult because they are not What are megaregions? confined to traditional geographic or Megaregions are geographic areas that will political borders, but arise from the contain two-thirds of the nation’s interactions between cities and regions. In population by 2050 (Amekudzi, Thomas- order to address these challenges, local, Mobley & Ross, 2007). They can be state, regional, and understood as federal actors may be networks of well served by planning Megaregions could become metropolitan centers for critical infrastructure places that operate—and and their surrounding on a scale larger than areas, connected by thrive—at the center of a new has been common in existing environmental, transportation and economic and planning economic, cultural, and regional planning geography, one in which high infrastructure history and practice. relationships. As value is placed on networks and One potential approach economic drivers, to address these on building attractive and megaregions will challenges, and take healthy urban areas. continue to attract new advantages of the populations and opportunities that arise require new from growing urban agglomerations, is the investments in infrastructure and greater idea of the “megaregion.” focus on environmental preservation, including climate change. Currently Megaregions: Literature Review of